Welcome to the Shepherd's Connection. This site, and the ministry it supports, is dedicated to those who have committed themselves to serving in Christian ministry. The web site is a place for ministers to connect and share growth opportunities, encouragement, and find/share support with other ministers. The backbone of the ministry is not a “person” but the ministers.
“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
(Proverbs 27:17)
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Has God ever vetoed one of your ideas? He has vetoed more of my ideas than I care to admit. I wish my walk with Christ was such that I always have his stamp of approval before moving forward. That is not always the case for me. I have a hunch that you readers can identify with my failure.
A veto, from God, could have several meanings. It could mean He caused something to fail. It could mean the timing was not right. It could mean He has something better in mind. What kind of ideas does God veto?
- A failed church plant
- A revival that was poorly timed
- An idea that was inappropriate
- A decision that was wrong
These are just the tip of the iceberg.
I once resigned from one church, in order to accept a call from another, and realized I had made the wrong decision. Sometimes God speaks through a still small voice. On that occasion I felt like I had been hit with a baseball bat. Thank goodness God and His people are gracious in such humiliating times.
God showed me an encouraging word on this subject. When Jesus led Peter, James and John up the mountain for the transfiguration, Peter had what he probably considered, a brilliant idea. Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Matt 17:4) God vetoed that idea! WOW! Consider these truths.
- Even God’s chosen have bad ideas. Jesus handpicked Peter, James and John to accompany Him up that mountain. When we fail there is a tendency to doubt God’s selection of us.
- Past spiritual experiences do not hinder us from making poor decisions. Jesus was transfigured before His three disciples. Peter’s bad idea came on the heels of that experience. Unfortunately, today’s victories do not stop tomorrow’s failures. They may lessen them, but do not stop them.
- Bad ideas are a sign that we are a work in progress. The three chosen disciples were learning, but they still had much to learn. God uses failure to teach us some of our greatest lessons.
- Because of the grace of God, failure is a stepping stone. After Peter’s bad idea, God sent a “bright cloud” as a means of communication. He spoke these words to the disciples. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 17:5) Translation: Moses and Elijah are not equal with My Son. God’s voice struck fear into the hearts of the disciples. However, Jesus softly touched them and said, “Do not be afraid.” (vs. 7) Jesus gave the disciples assurance and the realization that they needed His support if they were to serve Him.
- Good intentions and good ideas do not translate into Godly ideas. Peter had, humanly speaking, a good idea. Peter had good intentions. God knew something that Peter did not realize. That shortcoming did not mean Peter was a failure. He was given a new revelation and growth experience.
I am so grateful that God is gracious. He coaches us through bad ideas. He grows us from our failures. He raises us from our low points to greater service. The world penalizes failure. God uses it to prepare us!
I believe that the primary failure of 9 out of 10 pastors is the “Lone Ranger” syndrome. Pastors are trying to do the work of the Lord alone.
Most pastors lack a few good friends in the ministry with whom they meet with regularly for fellowship, prayer, study, confidential talk, accountability, a round of golf, a good meal and rest. A preacher needs a friend with whom he can hang out. This omission has seriously limited the ministry of many ministers I know. It surely weakened my service for the Lord.
I think of two critical times when I needed a few good buddies in the worst way.
When I first started pastoring I had a history degree, zero experience and no training in church leadership. Each week, as I worked on sermons, I reinvented the wheel. I started from scratch. II searched the Bible for something I could turn into a sermon. In the Birmingham suburb where we lived, there were plenty of pastors who would welcome a call from a 22-year-old preacher asking for advice. But, I struggled alone.
Another critical time occurred when the chairmen of deacons and the personnel committee stopped by my office to announce that either I relocate or that a move would be made to get me out of that church. I was stunned! I needed support when that little delegation delivered their ultimatum. However, I needed counsel when I was beginning to learn the nature of my tasks and the size of the obstacles I faced.
I regret not calling a half-dozen friends to drop what they were doing and come visit me. I should have said, “I’m in a crisis situation and need you.”
They say a true friend is one you can call in the middle of the night to come help bury the body and he does and never asks for an explanation. Now, my friends would have exercised a little more discernment than that, but they would have been there; I’m completely convinced of that. But I did not make that call and went on alone.
“The Lord was there,” you say. He sure was. And so was Margaret, my wife. We had a back-porch custom in those days where we sat and unloaded. (The agreement she and I had was that we could say anything on the porch, but could not bring it inside the house. It was a good system, one we have recommended to others in the years since.)
But I needed one thing more: I needed a few buddies.
These days, I frequently have the opportunity to address young ministers about the work to which the Lord has called them. One point I drive home is that among the things they’re going to need, “a couple of buddies” ranks toward the top of the list.
Too many pastors today are like Elijah, a loner in every sense of the word. The problem is, as any professional counselor can tell you, solitude makes the person vulnerable to loneliness, depression, even anger, sometimes thoughts of suicide, and then, oddly, pride.
We see every one of those traits in Elijah.
“Lord, I’m the last one you have left.” (I Kings 19:10, 14 He said it twice!)
Woe is me. Everyone else has given in to the enemy. I’m the Lord’s last hope.
Not so, said the Lord. In fact, He answered the prophet, “I have 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (19:18)
Elijah was too smart to argue with God, but we can imagine him protesting that the others were holed up in caves somewhere, while he himself was on the front lines, risking everything for the Lord.
The lone ranger syndrome can produce depression and thoughts of suicide and at other times, pride and egotism.
The Apostle Paul is a better role model for today’s pastor. We get the impression from Acts 9 that he began his ministry as a loner. Soon, he made the discovery that this was a dead-end route, that he would need friends. “Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.” (Acts 9:27)
Later, when Paul barely escaped from Jerusalem with his life, he returned home to Tarsus for an indefinite period. We wonder what was going on in his mind at that time. Was he making tents and studying the Word? Was he feeling like a failure? Was God letting him marinate a bit before returning him to a far greater ministry?
When revival broke out in Antioch of Syria, Barnabas happily discovered that Gentiles were coming to Christ in vast numbers. He remembered that God had called Paul as a missionary to that very group. Acts 11:25 may be one of the most important sentences in history: “Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul (Paul).”
When Paul became a missionary, he went with Barnabas. Later, he took Silas and then Timothy, while John Mark accompanied Barnabas. No one went alone.
Are you struggling with questions about success? Come on don’t be so pious! All ministers struggle with this question from time to time. The classic example is Joshua. After Moses died God chose Joshua to lead the people of Israel. Talk about big shoes to fill. Talk about an inferiority complex. Joshua struggled with this task. He needed words of encouragement from the Lord.
The struggle with success plays itself out in many ways. Sometimes we struggle with the “poor little old me syndrome.” We compare ourselves to the superstar preachers and that makes us feel small; or we struggle with the church-down-the- street syndrome (“The church down the street has welcomed more new members than our church”); or it may be a struggle with “location syndrome” (“why did God place me in this location?”); or we struggle with the last pastor syndrome. (“I am not as popular as the last pastor.”)
I had an interesting experience in my first church out of seminary. I served in a small rural church in Mississippi. The church I served was located about ten miles from town in a rural area. We defined the phrase “rural church.” There was a church in town that was “blowing and going” as we say. They had a nice building and were gaining many new members on a regular basis. I remember feeling somewhat envious of that church’s pastor. I thought to myself, “I will be happy when I don’t have to live under his shadow.” Guess what happened? Sometime later, I moved to another church about two hours away. The pastor from the previous town moved down the street from my new place of service. The same scenario repeated itself. His church appeared to do better than mine. In each of those situations the church I served prospered; however, the prosperity was not equal to the church down the street. I struggled with questions of success.
In studying Joshua’s experience, several lessons come to mind. First, take time to listen to the Lord. The Lord always has a word for our situation. Sometimes we are so busy that we miss a relevant word from the Lord. We need to spend time praying, meditating and bringing our struggles before the Lord.
Secondly, as God spoke to Joshua, He reminded him of his calling. God chose Joshua to be Moses’ successor. God’s call gives value and purpose. God’s call, in and of itself, is reason to celebrate. We tend to rate success on man’s standards and on man’s opinions. If we are following God’s call, that call, in and of itself, makes us successful. We are doing what God called us to do.
Closely related to the previous thought is that of faithfulness. God reminded Joshua to be himself. Every pastor cannot pastor a mega-church. Every pastor cannot write a bestselling book. Every pastor cannot speak on the seminar/conference circuit. The pastor who is faithful in the small rural church is successful. The pastor who is faithful in the traditional rural church is successful. The pastor who is faithfully working with difficult people is successful.
God told Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (1:9)
We will face many trials as we serve in ministry. Trials such as sickness and death of friends, divorce of fellow believers, personal sickness, family issues, and people issues, just to name a few. It is hard to say which trials will affect us the most. There is one trial that may very well be the most debilitating and most difficult to overcome. What is it? The trials created by our own personality quirks.
Let’s look at the topic. All of us have personality quirks. I love watching the detective show “Monk.” Monk reminds me of us. He is his own worst enemy. I know! Monk has deep seated personality issues that require professional help. I have always told congregations I served, “we are all one step away from insanity.” We may not be as quirky as Monk, but all of us have them. Consider these examples: OCD, the tendency to be a control freak, obsessed with work; paranoia, by insecurity and anxiety; and chronic worriers.
In the Bible the classic example of a man with a personality quirk was Jacob. Jacob had to be in control. He always manipulated circumstances so that he would come out on top. Have we not seen that in ministry? This is seen most clearly in Genesis 30-32 as Jacob played a game of situational chess with Laban.
The beautiful thing about God’s sovereign work in our lives is that he changes our spiritual dimension but also our personal/emotional lives. Over time God changed Jacob from being a control freak to being a man of faith. That required time and surrender. In Jacob’s life the masterpiece of God’s work occurred at Bethel (Genesis 35:16-26) when Jacob wrestled with an angel. This encounter moved Jacob to a new dimension in his service to God.
The tricky part is that we do not shoot ourselves in the foot while God fulfills His work in us. So what can we do to confront our quirky nature?
- Ask God to help you! He knows your needs.
- Be honest and humble about what you see in the mirror. This is not always a pretty picture.
- Be transparent with fellow believers. I know this is dangerous. Sometimes when you are transparent, people will use this against you. However, transparency elicits transparency. If we are phony people will be phony with us.
- Talk to a trusted friend about your issues.
- Seek the advice of a professional. In the early days of ministry it is good to take a personality and leadership profile. When we know ourselves, it makes life easier in working with others.
It is inevitable that we will face trials as we serve in ministry. My prayer is that my personality quirks not contribute to my trials. Occasionally pastors walk into my office and begin talking about church issues they are facing. The sad part is that sometimes the man is as much, if not more, a part of the problem. Even sadder is the pastor who cannot see his weaknesses. His pride blinds him.
Only by the grace of God do any of us contribute to God’s sovereign work in our world. Our sin, our sinful world and our personality quirks are formidable foes. My prayer is that God sovereignly change us, as He did Jacob. He wants to change our world through His imperfect servants.
The title of this article contains three disturbing words, “Quitting the Ministry.” You might be reading this article to see to whom the words refer. It could be you! It could be me! We do not relish the use of these words regardless of the source. We do not expect God’s men to quit. Secretaries quit, electricians quit, and plant workers quit, surely pastors do not quit.
The truth is, anyone serving in ministry has entertained these three disturbing words from time to time. The causes are many: difficult people, discouragement, burnout, depression, feeling ineffective, the list goes on.
When looking for Biblical inspiration it seems as if we can always look to Peter for an example. Peter experienced the full range of spiritual struggles while following Jesus. In John 21 we find an occasion when Peter seemed to struggle with his calling. Jesus had risen from the dead, but Peter and the other disciples had not discovered the full significance of this good news and its impact on their lives.
During this time, Peter and several of his fellow disciples decided to go fishing. We do not know the reason for the fishing trip. It could have been doubt, a time to relax, a need to raise funds, or a time of wavering in their call. Regardless of the reason we learn several valuable lessons about facing the empty times of ministry.
First, regardless of their reason for fishing, Jesus did not condemn the disciples for going fishing, nor did He condemn the motivation behind it. Were they motivated by doubt, discouragement, guilt, uncertainty, self- condemnation or similar negative emotions? Just because you get down does not mean Jesus is down on you. It is okay to withdraw and look for answers.
Also, there is nothing wrong with empty nets. As Americans we abhor failure. Jesus often uses empty nets to teach us His abundance. When we have tried our way and our methods (remember Peter was a fisherman by trade) and come up empty that leaves plenty of room for Jesus and His fullness.
John’s gospel tells us the purpose behind this fishing experience. “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself.” (John. 21:1) Did you notice that word, “again?” Jesus wants to show us he can turn empty nets into full nets. Jesus reveals Himself again and again until we get the lesson. John said, “This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.” (John. 21:14)
In the seasons of emptiness Jesus does His greatest work in us. We do not want to hear this truth, but it is truth we need to hear. As Jesus walked Peter and his comrades through this failed fishing trip He prepared them for their next phase of ministry. As we claim the promise of Romans 8:28 we can be assured that empty nets are a prelude to the Lord’s fullness and a bright future.
